Prayers, poems and questions : plays that point toward the unknown

This thesis document explores the open systems I have used to develop my plays throughout my three years at the MFA Playwriting Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. Looking closely at two plays, The Fault and Still Now, from inspiration to production, I will chart how they are structured as open systems; the former a prayer, the later a question, and ask how these plays activate an audience towards the unknown.